Power Rankings Episode 41 – S1

VENICE

Starting off this week, we have Venice, who has positively dropped the ball. Losing city after city, Venice is now relegated to its vanilla playstyle: A single city trying to make it in this crazy cylinder. What remains to be seen though, is how venice will die. Will it be Palmyra, The Moors, Prussia< or perhaps some unknown force. One thing is for certain though, it’s all but over for Enrico.

INDIA

India and Nepal have been rivals since the beginning of time, yes, locked in fierce battles from day one and eventually dueling in a more diplomatic fashion as fellow rump states, but before Endgame, it was pretty clear which of the twin lions was on top. India pulled ahead of Nepal in the Power Rankings after Episode 9, and pulled ahead in-game not long after, remaining at a consistent size and even gaining some land while their neighbor circled the drain of the world. If Indira was given a chance to go back to those days, she’d probably take it. Now Nepal’s the trendy and hopelessly out of date underdog with a decent chance at playing spoiler in a conflict between two giants, while India whiles away their time as a city-state with little chance of making any further impact in a game which is quickly passing them by. Sure, there’s hope for India. The game’s still in the earliest of phases; everyone still has some chance at the prize, no matter how small. But as a neighbor they once trumped in every possible way begins to outpace them, as the powers around them slip out of reach, that hope’s becoming fainter and fainter. Just a few parts ago, the main discussion surrounding India was how they could beat their neighbors. Now, it’s about how long they can appease them.

YUP’IK

Last week someone bet that Yup’ik would be Shikoku’s next target. Looks like they were exactly right. Yup’ik doesn’t have a lot of neighbors. Just 2 in fact. They’re at war with both. That sinks them to 3rd from last. Their only chance is noncommittal enemies and/or difficult terrain. It’s worked for Nepal.

MADAGASCAR

Madagascar overtake the Yup'ik. They didn't do anything this part apart from settling a city, and didn't even appear in a slide. Statswise, they look like a slightly above-average rump, however, one thing they do have over the rumps is space. They can settle another 3 cities completely uncontested, for a total of 6. That's higher than the Manx, Prussia or Vikings currently have! So I do expect Madagascar to rise to “OK” level once they settle those free cities. However, their only neighbour is the huge and terrifying Zimbabwe, so they will never rise higher than “OK”. Zimbabwe doesn't have a navy at present and lacks coastal cities so it may be a while before Madagascar dies, but they will never be powerful.

CANTON PIRATESNo change for Canton this week, either in ranking or overall position. The CBR’s greatest survivors live on, and while their three cities are a poor showing they’ve still space to settle south toward the Philippines, or even take off into a vacant Oceania. Their existence has always depended on the Qin’s interest and competency, and so far they’ve managed to maintain just enough of a standing army to make a takeover too much of a hassle. Long term prospects? Minimal as ever, but at the same time I could still see Canton just holding out long enough to scratch the top 20.

NAZCAThings have definitely improved for Nazca. They managed to resettle their third city, and no longer have any wars against their neighbors going on. This is a good improvement over their last part, which is why they’ve risen so much despite their failures. But whether they manage to hold onto this rank is not up to them, but rather their neighbors, and other civs who will fall below them.

PARTHIA

Great success! Taking opportunity of Maratha attacking Palmyra, Parthia swooped in and grabbed their old city of Merv back! Wait a moment: false alarm. You expected Parthian competence? Think again! This is not a great success for Parthia. For to end the war, they gave away Kuchan, so in effect, they only managed to trade a 5 pop mountain city for a 2 pop desert city. Parthia have been to war 5 times this game, and have given away cities to end 3 of those wars. Not a good habit to have. So despite would could have been a great victory, Parthia finds itself this week in the same situation as last week: stuck in the desert with 3 cities with stronger enemies on both sides. Of all the civs with 3 cities, Parthia has the worst stats, though they do have the largest army out of the 3-city club, with lots and lots of horsemen. But that's not a lot of use if you just give away all your cities.

NUBIA

Only a drop of 1 for a civ that lost 25% of their cities. 3 cities is approximately the limit of what a rump is so being at that level is not good. The problem is that they got coalitioned right out of the gate and have been defending on all sides ever since. It's difficult to do well and get your economy up and running when you need to put all your effort into military. The same thing happened in the original game so I don't know what Piye is doing to offend so many people so early in the game but he should probably not do that. As a consequence of this war, Nubia has done a Poverty Point and not built any settlers all game. It is more excusable in Nubia's case than for Poverty Point because of the coalition, but the outcome is the same: a weak civ that is just waiting for someone to finish them off.

NEPAL

Nepal continue to rise, reaching their highest rank since part 3, and overtaking Nubia and Yup'ik. Their most notable strong points is their high production, 16th overall, which has allowed them to fully carpet their lands. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for their science, and without any bonus techs to start off with, Nepal is dead last in terms of tech: their carpet is made up of ancient era spearmen and archers. That's not exactly that impressive. They are currently getting coalitioned by all 3 of their eastern neighbours, but you probably didn't notice because none of them is able to get through the dense mountains. In fact, Taungoo is now itself getting coalitioned by Australia and Maratha. That leaves open the possibility for a Nepalese snipe. However I think that is way too optimistic. Nepal have not even researched a unit capable of damaging the city, and although Maratha could theoretically damage it, they have an extremely awkward approach through jungle. Nepal's best plan going forwards is just to turtle in the mountains until someone discovers flight and kills them.

HAIDA

You know how the saying goes. “Can’t beat ‘em, swim to another continent as a failsafe and plot bloody revenge from there.” The Metis may have taken Haina, sure, and a meager navy places even the Haida’s usually impenetrable coastal cities under some degree of risk, but Koyah’s adoption of the old Carthaginian strategy of aggressively conquering and settling into foreign lands when one’s own are taken has stemmed the bleeding and kept the Haida’s position in the ranks stable. Then again, it’s not really their annoying of the Yup’ik which has kept their situation salvageable; it’s their claiming of one of the greatest prizes of a continent not their own. Mount Fuji is solidly Haidan, now, the settlement of Tanu already growing and well-defensible to boot, and if given time to bulk up their little foothold in Asia could turn into a more permanent home. The Haida may be on the outs in North America, but if they’re going to be killed, then they may as well make it damn hard for anyone to actually finish the job. Maybe they won’t win, maybe they won’t even come close, but they’ll sure as hell be interesting to watch along the way.

GOTHS The Goths fall behind their old rival Prussia as their stats continue to fall behind. While they maintain a larger army than Frederick, it’s still insignificant compared to Alaric’s other neighbors.  While Ablai Khan continues to focus Frederick,  if either he or Zenobia decide to come west, Alaric’s three cities are great danger.

PRUSSIA

Ah, Europe. More clusterfuck than continent, where the points don’t matter and the balance of power shifts with a butterfly’s wings. Prussia had their time in the sun, the winds of expansion favoring them against the Goths, but one bungled coalition war and some aggressive Kazakh settling later, and they find themselves above only one-city Venice and their old rivals in the region, the civs to the north and in the west firmly in control of the continent. Of course, being near the bottom in Europe is equivalent to being in the middle of the fray in other continents: the difference between the rich and the poor here is four spots. And if any civ’s well-poised to tip the scales once more, it’s Prussia, in the midst of citadelling the Manx mainland into oblivion and sharing borders with just about everyone who matters. The question now, really, is whether the next period of unrest works in Frederick’s favor or not. If it does, then he stands a decent chance of becoming the closest thing you can get to a power in Eastern Europe, the region’s bulwark against the encroaching Kazakh hordes. If it doesn’t? Then he could find himself a one-city rump or worse. The continent’s early period of instability is heading toward an explosive climax, and Frederick’s the man holding the bomb. Prussia might reach new heights. They might also die miserably, or, worst of all, remain unchanged. But whatever happens, they’ll at least make things even more interesting in a continent already filled to the brim with intrigue.

VIKINGS

The Vikings/Sami standoff continues. Once again they seem more interested in expanding southward to mainland Europe than towards their main rival. Perhaps for the best. This time Manx actually beat them to the punch though, and Iroquois and Moors beat them to the punch of invading the isles. What a weird world we live in.

MANXIlliam Dhone has gotten himself into a good position since the start of Endgame, but if he wants to keep climbing, he’ll have to try a little harder. With Prussia and the Vikings fighting each other, it will be easy for the Manx to capitalize on the end of the war, where both civs are weak from fighting. And capitalize is what they need to do. The Moors and the Iroquois have arrived on the islands, and while Hiawatha might be too far away to fully ensure a victory, Abd-ar is close enough to be a threat, both to the island, and the continental holdings.

SAMI

Eadni has options, sure. She just isn’t taking them. Such is the plight of a common critic of the Sami’s performance in Endgame so far, a projected titan in Northern Europe first driven into mediocrity by lost settlers then kept there via unwise war declarations. Then again, in this sort of continent, irrelevant wars might just be the best kind. Even in a war where nobody was expected to win, the Sami still could loop the Moors, Venetians, and Vikings in with ease. The instant a relevant war breaks out, the same state of stalemate-prone coalition warfare we saw against the Prussians could return, with the only winning move being to stay out of the fray. And, in that respect, the Sami might be the best off of any civ in Europe. The instant the Vikings research naval warfare, nobody will be further away from the continent’s pressure points than Eadni, and thus nobody will be less likely to be pulled into a sorry excuse for mass bloodletting than her. There’s a reason civs on the outside of continents tend to do well, after all. It’s much easier to pick off a weaker enemy when they’re involved in a war already and you aren’t. Sure, she may have lost most of her early bonuses, and sure, she may be stuck in the Arctic, but nobody’s better suited to become Europe’s second power than Eadni. At least, if she doesn’t get eaten by the Kazakhs first.

MARATHA

The next episode will be pivotal for Maratha. Once again they came out of the gate strong, looking like they could be a regional power. They don’t have a lot to show for it though. The Kazakhs have 17 cities this episode. Maratha... just 4. Even Nepal is only one city away. But if Maratha takes cities off Zimbabwe, Nepal, Parthia, India, etc, they can hold an expansive empire.

TAUNGOOTypical… you take a city, and this is how we repay you? With a five rank drop? Well, you've got stats to thank for that - after losing a huge chunk of their military, Taungoo tumbled in the statistical charts, showing the frailty of their position. The reason for their lagging stats is clear enough; they’ve failed to adequately settle, letting Qin and Canton divide China while Australia begins to monopolise the East Indies. Still, there’s plenty of islands left to colonise, and with buffer states of Canton and Nepal on land and an Australia they’ve proven they can beat across the sea, they’ve time enough to pick themselves up off the floor.

BENIN

Benin rise 1 rank further overtaking Taungoo. They have successfully taken out Venice's African colony which is good - a city is a city. Nubia is continuing to weaken further which means they could potentially be a good avenue for expansion later. Benin's problem are their other two neighbours... Zimbabwe is continuing to be a powerhouse with the highest production and science of the entire game. Truly a force to be terrified of. Benin should probably be thinking of getting open borders with Madagascar in order to get their peacekeeper protection back. Their northern neighbour, the Moors, may have been off to a sluggish start but have since compensated, with a bunch of cities coming out, and still more settlers on their way. Benin temporarily pushed ahead of the Moors in stats last part thanks to their city settling spree but the Moors immediately bounced back and look to continue growing their lead. A lot of Benin's cities are also desert cities that won't grow well. They should be wary of being the next Songhai.

VENEZUELA

Venezuela makes a strong case for the civ that benefited the most from Endgame. Uruguay is still a world power and Venezuela might just be in the superior position at this point. That’s insane. The high food count is a big reason for the success so far. Not worrying about Haiti, Kuikuro, and easily rolling Nazca helps too. I don’t know about you but I’m jumping on the Venezuela bandwagon.

PALMYRA

Well, that certainly was a part. Over the course of a mere 72 slides, Zenobia experienced more drama and changes in fortune than most leaders see in a lifetime. Perhaps that’s why it’s so hard to make much of it. From the highs (two more cities gotten in peace deals, the sniping of Kiteve) to the lows (the razing of the two aforementioned cities, the fall of Merv), Palmyra’s part looked like it was comprised more of random events than it was of some overarching narrative. If there’s any lesson that can be taken away from it, really, it’s probably this — the Middle East might just be too volatile a region to ever hold a real superpower. If any civ was going to become a powerhouse from the cradle of civilization, it’d be the Palmyrenes, with early-game swagger and uncannily strong peace deals allowing them to get the drop on their neighbors before they could get the drop on them. But, as we’re seeing now, not even they can realistically expand on every front, not when they border over a quarter of the remaining civs. Someone, eventually, was going to stall their progress, waste valuable time, and leave the Zimbabwes and Kazakhs of the world with an insurmountable edge. Palmyra’s still one of the biggest threats in the game, of course. What they’ve clawed and scraped their way to will not be so easily revoked. But they almost certainly aren’t going to walk away from this with a victory, now, and it’s becoming harder and harder to convince ourselves that they had a chance in the first place.

SHIKOKUThis part Shikoku suffered the greatest of insults it received since the start of Endgame. Japan has been almost completely settled, but not by the Shikoku. The Qin, Haida, even Australia have planted cities all along the island chain. While the island of Shikoku itself hasn’t been settled, it seems doubtful that Sakamoto will send a settler there. And even if he did, settling that close to the Qin might instigate a war, a war which Shikoku would be a likely loser.  Shikoku’s best bet is to continue marching east against the Yup’ik, solidify their gains, and wait for the Kazakhs and Qin to become distracted.

MOORS

Moors are one of the biggest winners this part. Though we were slightly concerned last week that they had left the settling too late, they got down to it this part, and have staked claims in a wide area, from Ireland all the way to the Canaries, making them by far the strongest european civ. The capture of Murano from Palmyra was a quick and efficient war that has given them control over the West Mediterranean, and a good staging ground for attacking either Venice or Benin down the line. And they still have 3 settlers out there! And though Benin and its city spam across the Sahara was looking like it might be a problem last week, the Moors have overtaken them in stats again, and look to continue growing that lead as they settle even more cities. Benin is still the biggest problem for the Moors, but one that can be overcome. The rest of Europe is currently not posing much of a threat; in fact I would say the biggest threats to the Moors are the top 3: Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan and the Iroquois, off in the distant future.

AUSTRALIAWith the announcement of the CBRX S2 votes, we’ll soon have our first Battle Royale that doesn’t feature an Australia. And I don’t just mean a series without Australia… they’ve appeared in every single episode of every single CBR, as top dogs in Mk 1 and surviving runners up in Mk 2.1. It’s no surprise why: as in Risk, Australia can’t die. Or can they? Despite going on a bountiful settling spree this episode, Hawke slips two ranks after losing forward-settle Adelaide only an episode after founding it. It bodes very badly for their prospects in mainland Asia, but surely the turtle fortress Australia will live on, right? Well, I wouldn’t be so sure. With the shrunken world map, Australia has less of a continent and more of a large island to itself this time. And while Vietnam were a formidable beast in Mk 2, they were mostly a land based civ, whereas Taungoo and Maratha have shown naval teeth, and Qin are just covered in teeth from every angle. This is the shakiest we’ve seen an Australia in some time, and don’t be surprised to see their favour shrink even as their stats continue to grow.

URUGUAY

This episode felt a little deja vu for Uruguay, as they went to war in a thickly forested Amazon and found their superior army stall out behind thousands upon thousands of trees. But while a fruitless war with Kuikuro proved largely incidental last time, the failed offensive against Venezuela could prove far costlier. Lavalleja is in an unenviable position; having focussed on evicting the squatters to the south, he’s let Venezuela monopolise the fertile north of the continent, and now has next to nowhere left to settle. Venezuela meanwhile has already sent a settler out to the Caribbean, having Central America at its disposal as well, as long as they beat the Iroquois to the punch. Uruguay’s stats though, right? Well… while they have a slight edge in production, Venezuela is actually beating Uruguay in research. With some extra settle room, Chavez could well pull ahead from the pack, but even if they remain somewhat even, Uruguay’s currently blocked from expanding any further. Their hopes lie in an unnatural stat boom the likes of which they’re known for, or a coalition war on Venezuela. But it’s sure not like Uruguay to have to depend on outside factors.

METISIt’s been roughly 30 parts, but Metis is back in the Top 5. And that’s because these thick boys are now a clear power check to their long standing rival: Hiawatha. With stats close to (and in production’s case, exceeding) the Iroquois, Riel has a clear shot of becoming the dominant power in North America. With a weak Haida and Yup’ik, the Metis have some extra room to expand the Iroquois lack. The road ahead won’t be easy, but Riel is capable of walking it.

QIN

The Qin settle a bunch of cities, which now makes them the 2nd biggest civ with 15 of them. They have settled Japan and even managed to get a city in the Philippines before Canton, Australia or Taungoo reached them. Unfortunately, Qin have gone unhappy which is hindering the growth of their many cities, and thus their population and other stats are more comparable with the Metis or Uruguay then with the top 3. Still, they should eventually get happiness once they connect their luxuries, and then their stats should catch up. One major problem down the line is that they don't have anyone to conquer apart from Canton (who barely count). To their south they have the impenetrable Himalayas, to their east they have the Pacific, and their northern neighbours are Shikoku who are not to be trifled with. As for their west, they have Kazakhstan, who are better than Qin in every way and are more likely to defeat Qin than the other way round. These are not the best choices of neighbours. Qin will have to put a lot of effort to keep their position.

IROQUOIS

I can’t say that the Iroquois have played particularly bad in Endgame, but their opportunities are drying up fast. All of the sudden they are left with the surprisingly strong neighbors of Metis and Venezuela. In fact there are rankers who put Metis *above* Iroquois and Venezuela *above* Uruguay. (I’m not quite there yet but see where it’s coming from). Anyway, the point is, Iroquois neighbors are stronk. The road ahead for this superpower is not easy.

ZIMBABWEThe Big Zim goes up a rank this week, as their stats continue to rise, being either the top or near the top in stats. War wise, their record is a little mixed. While they were able to take back Chitekete, they lost the recently settled Kiteve to Palmyra. But fear not, Zimbabwe fans. With an army marching north to Nubia, Benin focusing on other ventures, and Madagascar being Madagascar, it’s likely that Mutota will continue to play a big role in African politics on the cylinder for a while.

KAZAKHS

Still comfortably in the number 1 slot, Kazakhstan continues to grow at an incredible rate. They're already up to 17 cities and have a bunch of settlers roaming around looking to increase that total even more! They also have the largest military in the game which they are currently using to join the coalition against Prussia. Prussia might be an expert at defence but Kazakhstan is a foe the likes of which Prussia has never faced - they have 4 times Prussia's military and 3 times its production! Gains should definitely be possible, and from then on Kazakhstan can slowly gobble up the rest of Europe during the course of the game. Who can possibly resist them in Europe? The Moors? They're far away. Their eastern neighbours have a little more bite to them - Qin and Shikoku are also quite large - but Kazakhstan is bigger. As for their south, they have... Parthia... yeah that's not going to be a problem. Even if Kazakhstan does a Yakutia and sleeps for the entire rest of the game, they will stay near the top of the power rankings for many many parts to come.